Turning back the clock 2012

[bam-bam]

Things I learned:

• 3-wheeled shooters will not give the results you need no matter the set-up.
• Watch the robot weight! We lost important features that we could've used.
• CAD.... we need more CADing.... (or at least I do)...
• Prototyping. We had a general ideas that worked, but we kind of prototyped on the wrong things.

Things we did well:

• Strategy. We kind of missed the mark, but we had requirements that kind let us win.
• Drivetrain. Nailed it this year.
• Scouting. We got reliable data that we could make predictions from for once.

We had a great year. In fact, expect an improved 1501 at the champs....

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by bam-bam

• 3-wheeled shooters will not give the results you need no matter the set-up.

1676 says hello.

Our team had one of its best seasons ever, winning 2 districts and being ranked 3rd in the state before the Michigan State Championship. After we attended the Michigan State Championship we were ranked 6th in the state and could go to worlds. I love my teammates, mentors, coaches, robot, sponsors, and many other things about my team, but there are some things I wish we hadn't done/should've done.

We should’ve had more emphasis on fundraising. We barely got the money together for States and actually had to use some money we planned to use for worlds. We did gain many new sponsors this year, but individual student fundraising was lacking a little bit.

We shouldn’t have used our second unlock period/build window to add a pneumatic arm and should’ve added another belt system instead. The pneumatic arm did help us balance, but was not as strong as many other teams' arms. I wish we added a belt system to help us collect balls. When we collect balls, we have to move forwards to get the balls in the main conveyor system. One of the students on our team thought of adding another conveyor/belt so that the robot wouldn't have to drive forwards. It was thought of later in the season though and never added due to weight and time issues.

We should’ve had longer and detailed lessons on scouting. There were a few mistakes made in the scouting system and many of our scouters this year were rookies. The scouting lesson we did was at the last minute, just a few days before competition. Overall, our scouting system was fantastic and our scouters paid attention to the matches well, but as the season went on there were a few careless mistakes. Pit scouting also was changed a little and we had a few mistakes there as well.

We should’ve put in an arm earlier so the electronics team wouldn't have had the pain of redoing much of the wiring (the arm would've come down right on top of the power distribution board and many of the electronics had to be moved).

We should’ve designed our robot to go over the bump/barrier. I’m extremely happy with our robot design this year because it is simple and gets the job done, but one of the things we didn’t strive for was going over the bump. Our drive team attempted to go over the bump a few times after we assembled the robot, but it either almost tipped over or would get stuck. We still scored well without this skill, but it may have helped us score a little more and maybe play some defense.

We should’ve decided on plaxion wheels instead of mecanum wheels before we built the robot so we could’ve spent one of our build windows doing something else or practicing driving more.

We should’ve had a little more spirit! I got up and danced as much as I could, although I felt sick on the last day of States and felt horrible during eliminations, but I was one of maybe 5-7 people out of about 30 students who would get up and dance. Most of our team cheered during matches, but would get sad and disappointed afterwards if we lost. One of the things I want to really work on next year is spirit and cheering (which is saying a lot for me since I've never been one for hair dye, glitter, and dancing).

I shouldn’t have screamed so loud at States because I've just about lost my voice. I also wish I slept more, stayed hydrated during competitions, and ate a little better.

That’s just my opinion on what we should’ve/shouldn’t have done this season, though some of my team members may feel differently. I’m very happy with this year’s season and it’s probably our best season ever. We’ll hopefully see you at the Championship!

[4057programmer]

If I could turn back the clock on our rookie season this year the only thing I would have changed is the amount of time spent on the arm to drop the bridge. I would have made sure we had an arm strong enough to push down competition bridge so we didn't have to fight that the first day of regional's. The only thing I wish for was myself to have enough time to put in a functioning autonomous mode before we got to the matches. Other than that I say that I could not have asked for a better rookie season, or any season for that matter, than the one we had this year.
My thanks to the entire team 4057 for all the hard work they put in this year!